What began as a side project following a relocation to Asheville, N.C., has evolved into a compelling companion piece to Justin Osborne’s work with Carolina indie rockers Susto. On Susto Stringband (Volume 2) (Missing Piece), Osborne and his ensemble of bluegrass and old-time musicians continue their yeoman’s work of reimagining songs from the Susto catalog while introducing new material shaped by Appalachian string-band music. This time, the list of collaborators includes Morgan Wade, Joshua Hedley, Madeline Dierauf and (most prominently) members of Asheville’s Holler Choir. While the music emanates the warmth and communal spirit of its traditional arrangements, Osborne’s songwriting remains rooted in life’s messy complications and contradictions.
Osborne takes us through Susto Stringband (Volume 2), with a little help from Holler Choir’s Jackson Grimm and Helena Rose.
—Hobart Rowland
1) “Gloryland”
Osborne: “A cover—or an excerpt, really—of the iconic Ralph Stanley a cappella tune. When I first found a YouTube video of this song a couple years ago, it made me cry. It just immediately meant so much to me. We started doing it live and decided to include it on the album, as well.”
2) “Diamond’s Icaro”
Osborne: “This was written by Susto drummer Marshall Hudson after the passing of a close family friend. It’s a meditation on the cyclical nature of life and death—and a celebration of life. It originally appeared on Susto’s & I’m Fine Today, but we reworked it here.”
3) “E-350”
Osborne: “An homage to all the miles we’ve shared out on the road and one of my favorite things: Ford E-350 vans.”
4) “Hard Drugs”
Osborne: “A song about friendship, addiction, loss and self-preservation—and an anecdote about how fucked the healthcare system can be for people with no money. Originally from & I’m Fine Today and reworked here with help from our friend Morgan Wade.”
5) “Hands In The Dirt”
Osborne: “This was inspired by some advice my dad—rest in peace—once gave me. I was ready to give up on my dream of music, and he encouraged me to stay focused and work harder. It’s also a musing on how sometimes you really just need to get away from the chaos of society and reconnect with nature … literally get your hands in the dirt.”
6) “County Line”
Osborne: “An older Susto song I co-wrote with my longtime friend and collaborator Johnny Delaware. It’s a true story about small-town heartbreak. It was originally featured on Susto’s self-titled debut album.”
7) “Work Away”
Grimm: “I wrote ‘Work Away’ while I was on tour in Ireland. The melody simply appeared in my head one morning, and my friend Caolan Keogh, an incredible old-time fiddler, helped me transpose the melody from my head to the fiddle. The title I took from one of my favorite Irish turns of phrase. Nat Copeland and Madeline Dierauf bring it to life on the album.”
8) “Black River Gospel”
Osborne: “This is the first song I ever wrote specifically for Susto, and it basically unpacks growing up in a small rural community where everything was centered around faith.”
10) “Last Chance Linda”
Osborne: “I co-wrote this one with Jackson and Nat in the van. It’s based on a real experience we had on tour, meeting a wonderful lady named Linda down in Florida at the Last Chance Liquor Store. She loved old-time music, and we loved her.”
11) “Don’t Feel Right”
Rose: “I had the idea for ‘Don’t Feel Right’ just a few days after my dad passed in 2025. I’d typed, ‘normal with a shadow’ in the note section of my phone as a way to briefly put into words how I was feeling. Fast forward a few months, and in their Texas basement, Justin and his wife Caroline helped me expand on that and turn it into a song about how it feels to attempt moving forward after a tragic and unexpected loss.”
12) “Tell My Blues”
Osborne: “This is one of the first co-writes we did as a band. We were out in Wyoming when Jackson showed me some pieces of this song he’d been working on. Together, we finished it up and started playing it in our sets. It reminds me of those moments where life just feels perfect, and you try to soak it up because you know that feeling of contentment can be fleeting.”
See Susto Stringband live.
